Stocks close higher; S&P 500 scores fourth winning week

Stocks rose on Friday, with the S&P 500 posting a fourth weekly gain, as better-than-anticipated reports on manufacturing fed thinking of likely monetary-tightening ahead by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 69 points ahead, with Boeing and JP Morgan Chase pacing gains that included most of its 30 components.

Boeing's gains came a day after the Chicago-based plane maker said it would increase production of its 737 jets to 47 a month by 2017. It currently makes 38 of its top-selling planes.

Chevron led losses on the Dow after the oil producer reported a decline in third-quarter profit due to reduced refining margins, while oil and gas production rose but stayed short of its target.

The S&P 500 turned higher, with utilities pacing sector gains and energy and materials the worst performers. The Nasdaq also erased losses to turn positive in the final hour of trading. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a measure of investor uncertainty, fell to 13.58.

"Earnings are okay, and as a whole have beaten lowered expectations. Revenues are not fabulous, so it's still managing expenses, which companies are doing a good job of. Top-line growth is a lot harder to come by in the current environment," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners

With third-quarter earnings in from 74 percent, or 355 companies in the S&P 500, 68.5 percent have reported earnings above consensus estimates, while 53.3 percent have reported revenue that beat estimates, according to Thomson Reuters.

Decliners remained just ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where 578 million shares had traded by 3:55 p.m. Eastern. Composite volume approached 3.3 billion.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange.Crude futures dipped $1.77 to $94.61 a barrel and gold futures lost $10.50 to close at $1,313.20 an ounce.

The dollar gained against the currencies of U.S. trading partners and borrowing costs increased, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising 6 basis points to 2.62 percent.

On Friday, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser told CNBC that the central bank "clearly missed" a chance to start reducing its $85-billion-a-month asset purchasing program in September. The Fed did not make a move at its latest meeting this week, and most economists believe any slowing of its stimulus is off the table until early 2014.

In a speech Friday, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the chances of Fed trimming its bond buys increase along the with improvements in the labor market. However, the central banks wants "reassurance that any progress made in labor markets will stick," he added.

The bond market in particular is starting to adjust "certainly not this year, but maybe next, to an actual Fed taper," Nolte, of Dearborn Partners, said of rising borrowing costs, which are still low by historical standards.